It’s Inktober, and I am participating for the first time. To start, here’s my tools of choice! Not saying I won’t turn to another inking device at some point, but let’s start with these. I drew each item with the other, which turned out to be a good decision. The Kuretake #40 ink brush laid down some intense solid coverage to reveal the hard reflections on the shiny Platinum EF fountain pen. And, the EF pen brought on incredibly fine lines to capture the matte finish of the ink brush barrel. Real winners, both of them. Read more
2016
Sentries
The queen palms serving as sentries for the mighty Date Palm. This is a favorite spot of mine in the landscaping, and these palms always seem so majestic. The viewpoint is a little below grade, from down among the blocks in the water feature. The decorative grasses are only about a foot tall, but I’m eye level to them here.
Laid out with the Kuretake #40 brush pen initially, then washed with color. The foremost palm frond and a few other points employ gouache, although the highlights on the date palm trunk are saved whites. Painted across the spread in my sketchbook.
Cobalt blue, green apatite, some PO62 to mute the blue and Jane’s gray mix for the background black glass building. The palm trunks are Raw Umber (with and without cobalt) and there’s a little PY129 and Naple’s Yellow among the greenery. Oh, and the shrubs are Jadeite. Nine pigments – no limited palette here! At least not for me.
Sketchbook #11 – A Variant of Tied Binding
Finally finished editing the pics from making Sketchbook #11. The last several books have used a tied binding, but with the strings hidden under the cover wrap. This time I decided to use exposed ties, inspired by this method described on WetCanvas.com.
I thought this over for a while before making it. I love the look of strings-as-design-element, and wanted to use jute twine, but had a feeling I would not love thick strings at the center of every signature. A little testing proved that notion was correct. I decided to do a hybrid wrap, combining my usual upholstery thread inside, and jute twine outside.
Sketchbook #11: Il Fornaio again
Here’s another take on Il Fornaio. This time I wanted to capture the forest of umbrellas that shade their enclosed patio. Didn’t even notice, until deep in the sketch, that one of the umbrellas was a different shape than the others. I used a bit of Bleedproof White with PV23 to lay in the flower blossoms over the background. It was tempting to add a few silhouette diners behind the glass, but something told me that would go too far and I’d ruin it. Decided to listen for once and stopped, so here it is.
Spring Weather
This is what kind of day it was outside today. Post-scanning, I realized that one of my feet looks like I’m wearing clown shoes. Ah well… this is what I get for diving in with an ink brush all come-what-may!
Jeans courtesy of PB60, Indanthrone Blue which I added to my palette this weekend. Painting on location demands speed, and I have come to rely more on using paint direct from the well (vs. mixing precise hues before applying to the paper). This might limit the hue range to whatever’s on hand, but drastically reduces the amount of time spent before brush hits paper. It also means there’s been an awful lot of people in my book wearing Prussian blue pants because I didn’t have a good “jeans” color on hand! As of yesterday, problem solved. Indanthrone is the best blue-jean-blue I know of, and makes a nice neutral with orange/brown as well. It gets a workout here, by itself and in combination with PO62 for the socks and shoes. Jadeite and Green Apatite were used for the lawn.
Is heaven any sweeter than Blue Jean?
Magnolia Blossom
There’s magnolia trees outside at at work. There was also a magnolia tree next door to the house I grew up in. Without my realizing it, that aroma seeped its way into my memories each year and became the olfactory theme for for late spring/early summer.
The first spring at this building I walked out the front door and immediately found myself feeling like school was about to let out. It’s a wonderful feeling, even if I only get to enjoy it for a lunch break!
Il Fornaio, then and now
Thought I would take a break from the courtyard people and sketch this restaurant at lunch. It’s a sit-down place with a quick-serve sandwich shop off to one side – this is the door to the shop. I found a lovely shady spot on the open patio and soaked up some fresh spring air, and painted away.
Just for grins, take a look after the jump for my take on the same shop from early 2012. Read more
A Fine Spring Morning in Dystopia
This has been on my list for a while now. It’s the corner of the industrial property where I have studio space – the management recently saw fit to install a new fence with razor wire around the top. This amuses me to no end, because it’s really not a bad neighborhood at all. It looks all dystopian and prison-yardy though, and ensures that nothing short of birds, lizards, or very determined commandos can possibly be invading from that side of the property. Add some sun to create fabulous swirly shadows, and I can’t resist!
Friday People
There’s a few people around here taking Casual Friday seriously! The two dudes on the concrete bench were not kids (one of them turned out like one) but they were barefoot and in shorts. Nice day for that sort of thing for sure. The guy slouching on the bench had the right idea.
Elsewhere in the courtyard I found a pensive gent hanging out on the water feature. He also looks like a kid and really wasn’t – although he was sitting in the posture shown. Pitfalls of being new to drawing people: some days they just don’t turn out the way I intended.
People Watching and a lesson learned
This lady did her exercise routine near the tot lot, utterly unconcerned with anyone looking at her workout.
I loved watching her. She was doing some kind of movement exercise, slow and thoughtful, sort of dance-like. Not one bit of self consciousness at all. Neither was she concerned, evidently, what anyone thought of her fashion sense. I used to live freely like that, and like her experienced no particular judgement on my choice of hairstyle or clothing. Friends and colleagues just accepted me as me, and I did the same. Somewhere along the line I learned to worry about such things, and started dressing to silence the critical voice that surely lurks behind the lips of everyone who sees me. No one’s said a word from then till now, but I assume it’s there all the same.
It’s kind of amazing what a powerful prison our own minds are. Watching her dance helped let me out of mine.